John Meeuwes’ dog, Smoky, wasn’t happy to find a painter turtle in his bed.

Landon Prater, 5, of Cedar Springs, and mom Jessica came across a snapper turtle trying to cross 16 Mile just south of White Creek Avenue. They had nothing to put him in to move him across the street, so they tried to get him to bite on a branch so they could lead him across to safety. However, the ornery turtle didn’t want to cooperate, and hissed at them. Although they didn’t want to, they left the turtle there because mom had to get to work. When Landon and grandma drove back later, the turtle was gone. “I guess we’ll have to carry a box from now on,” said Jessica.Casey Slocum, 16, and Devin Slocum, 9, found a snapper turtle on 18 Mile Road north of Pine Lake. “I’ve never rescued a turtle before,” said Devin, a third-grader at Beach Elementary. The girls had a container to put him in, and released the turtle at Pine Lake.John Meeuwes told the Post that he returned home from somewhere and found his dog, Smoky, acting very frantic. “He had pulled most of his bedding out of his doghouse, and was barking like crazy at it,” explained John. When they pulled off the top of his coop, they were amazed at what they saw. “We were very surprised to see a painter turtle trying to lay eggs in his home!” he said. John said they moved the turtle to a new garden for her to lay her eggs.
Congratulations to all of the new members of the Post Turtle Rescue Club! You’ll be receiving a certificate and refrigerator magnet in the mail soon!
As a reminder, if you see a turtle trying to cross the road, you only need to help them to the other side, in the way they were traveling, and please be safe while doing it. And never try to pick up a snapping turtle!
If you’ve rescued a turtle, you can email photos and a brief summary to news@cedarspringspost.com, or stop in t our office at 36 E. Maple Street in Cedar Springs.